Bid made for share of Norwegian Car Carrier

Car Carriers Investment AS, a 50/50 joint venture between a subsidiary of Klaveness Marine Holding and a subsidiary of J.P Morgan Global Maritime Investment Fund, said it intends to start a voluntary cash offer for all of the shares of Norwegian Car Carriers (NOCC), a company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, at an offer price of 2.17 Norwegian krone (35 cents) per share.
It said the offer values the total share capital of NOCC at about 526 million Norwegian krone or $85 million, and noted it represented a premium of about 28 percent to the closing share price of NOCC on Jan. 17.
NOCC has a fleet of 12 pure car/truck carriers (PCTCs) and roll-on/roll-off ships. It concentrates its investments on modern and flexible car carriers within the size range of 4,000–7, 000 car equivalent units (CEUs).
NOCC said it was positive that an offer would be made, and prior to the announcement it had allowed the joint venture to conduct a due diligence review of NOCC. But it said at the announced price its board was not willing to recommend the offer prior to it being launched.
NOCC said its board will closely review the offer document as soon as this has been published and prepare a statement on the offer in accordance with the deadlines set out in the Norwegian law. It said the board has engaged ABG Sundal Collier Norge ASA as its financial advisor in connection with the offer and Carl Petter Finne, the chairman of NOCC and Kristine Klaveness, a board member, will not be involved in the assessment of the offer as they are considered to be closely associated with Car Carriers Investment.
Klaveness Ship Investments already owns 29.8 percent of the issued and outstanding shares in NOCC, and holders of another 11.15 percent of the stock have given their pre-approvals to the offer.